. romney wins in the state of north carolina. now, to -- the states that have

just closed. the state of california goes to the democrat, not surprisingly, obama as -- the polls have just closes in california. nothing reporting yet but we are 100% sure california goes to obama. the state of washington not surprisingly to the democrat obama. the state of idaho, goes to romney. 91 votes to 52 votes, we are sure of ourselves around here and then the state of hawaii, good evening to you and you have elected -- you have given your votes to obama. now to the important states which are still undecide. that will begin with the state of virginia. a state that we have been watching all night long. now three fourths of all precincts reporting. romney with a slight lead but still to close to call according to the decision team. the state of ohio which we thought would be the big teller of the night, obama at the moment at least has opened up a

lead but only two thirds of all precincts reporting and ohio is still to close to call as is iowa, six votes up for grabs, important state in this election. obama with what looks like it's a lead but because of the precincts still out it's to close to call. colorado, nine votes up for grabs, two thirds of all precincts reporting and colorado is still to close to call. same for minnesota with 26% of all precincts in, ten votes will go to somebody, actually -- we have just called the state of minnesota, obama gets the state of minnesota. we did that just a short time ago. we -- it's decided. minnesota, fox news projected in the last hour to obama. and before we get away, the state of florida, 90% of all precincts are now reporting. florida is still to close to

call. obama has a larger lead than he did but florida is way to close to call right now. i want to check in -- here is the college map. obama now with 244 on route to 270, the president out in the lead with a lost battleground states left to go and it's not over. romney with 193. the popular vote is shaping up to be interesting. a sea of red and blue. the popular vote not what matters but interesting to check in with and -- there is the popular vote as it breaks down. romney leading in the popular vote but of course obama leading in the big way in the electoral college at least for now. the two main reporters on the trail for us are ed henry, our chief white house correspond who has followed the white house campaign and carl cameron who followed the romney campaign is live in boston.

>> . it's very, very close, they know it's a needle that needs to be thread, they are just wonder figure it can get done tonight, tomorrow or ever. >> carl cam cameron live with the camp tonight. let's go to ed henry. with the president's camp and live in chicago. hey ed.

. you have to be in line when the polls close right? you have to be in line when the polls close and if you are in line then you can stay in line and they promise you will be able to vote. that means people have been in line for at least four hours. how long was the line when they got there? it could have been longer than four hours. that's florida for you tonight. florida. it's always florida. there is the possibility of a

recount in florida which frankly now mayor may not matter for the president but you have to do it. >> if it's with in 1% of each other. if you are talking about excitement of voters that's maybe your best indication that voters excited in how dominant the economy was in the election. where there are a lot of retirees, medicare, social security, the economy, those were the dominant topics, you wonder why so much time was give tone libya and china and iran who 4% view foreign policy as their top priority. it's the economy. >> and a lot of the republican machine was talk about libya but romney didn't talk as much about it as the people around him did. >> i think it was more about the leadership. the president thought it was a strong point. the critical thing is -- my friend said the economy.

we didn't chase it. we should have chased it from start to finish. we didn't convince people that four more years of obama, weighs -- -- the race isn't over. >> but that's the reason you are in this position. >> we should have wiped up the floor with this guy. >> why didn't that happen? >> i think a couple of things. the fact that the obama campaign in the spring and summer spent a substantial amount of time to define romney. the old thing, define yourself or be defined. then the 47% video and reinforced it. then i think at the end of every campaign especially for the president it's about trust. you heard the president say that time and time again. you know who i am. you can trust me. when people vote it's a personal vote. have you to trust that person. it seems more people trust obama than romney. >> quickly. >> i think its interesting, i think romney went after the

economy. i think sometimes he would be thrown off. . >> we are waiting for virginia, ohio, colorado, did i mention florida?

. . the state of ohio goes to obama. this is one we have been watching through the night. one the president -- the president won in 2008 with 51 and a half percent of the vote. mccain trailed with 47% of the vote n is seen as one of the huge battleground states of the night. 18 votes now go to the president. it's getting very close for the democratic incumbent as we look at the college, number total. obama at 262, romney at 203. you need 270 votes to win the office and so far, the president doesn't have it and this election isn't decided. we are aware there are different ways to look at all of the states.

what we want to make sure we are is right on every state that we call. we have memories of elections past and how things didn't perfect for everybody and with the polls operations and how you decide who won what. right now our numbers are these. obama at 262, romney at 203. with some -- with the exception here and there pretty much now romney has to run the table. especially of the battleground states. let's look at obama headquarters in chicago where it appears at least that the obama camp is believing that they are celebrating victory tonight. by our count the race isn't over. the president -- hasn't won yet. frankly all the polls have -- not yet closed. obama needs 270 votes, you know if you were sitting down and trying to make a decision about who won what state without all of the numbers in, you would

use metrics and all kinds of things to say well this county hasn't yet reported and with we aren't sure what it's going to do. in other words it's an art, not a science. the artist of the obama campaign now believe they have won it. fox news cannot say that yet because our decision team has them at 262 votes for the president, 203 for romney and frankly that is not enough by our count to win it all, our panel is back with us and marianne, the -- i can't find --. >> you can't. you look at what's left in the evening and though we still have questions about florida out there and virginia,. >> this is a fox news election alert. the president has just within reelected as president of the united states. the decision has just come from the decision desk. the president has just won re-

election, this is -- a fox news alert. i'm not sure sure what the last state was to put him over. i think it is that the decision team said there is no more path. iowa and oregon put him over the top. this is victory head quarters in chicago for the president at 16 minutes past ten in chicago. let's listen. ♪ [ music ] [cheering] [applause]

. there it is. a second term for obama. republican romney after all these years of campaigning, after billions of dollars spent, after thousands of thousands and thousands of miles traveled, the money and the time and the effort were not enough and obama is reelected. our panel is back with us again tonight. ed is here from the republican side, marianne from the d editor of the hill magazine with us as well. marianne your side has won the night and you looked at the percent age of who voted tonight tells us a lot about the shift in the united states. >> the obama team had it right. they modeled it right. >> when she said they modeled it right they were trying to project what the vote would be. which kinds of people with be out to vote. >> in this case only 72% of

white voters vote, you had high women, high hispanic, young, that's what brought this victory. >> one thing we have watched over the past five election cycles is the decline in -- white voters. america is changing. more african americans, more latino, more asian, more my majorities in the country. this year 72% of all votes cast were cast by whites. the number of hispanic, african american, and females was up across the board. >> and --. >> young voters as well. >> that was another thing that would be key to the election. would the young voter numbers be such that they were during the last cycle in? last time 17% was young people. this time from the best of our knowledge 18% was 18 to 29. >> this president was possibly

beatable and this -- as i said -- earler he has defied history. i would argue that what -- we just didn't think he would find those new voters to match his game in 2008 with all the people who were disspiritted were going to stay home. he found them. >> he did and ed henry, been following the obama campaigns live at become headquarters. >> it's starting to reach pandmonium. we knew ohio was critical to romney finding a path to put together 2 many 0 votes. that's now gone. its clear the president will be reelected. this is not a surprise to his senior advicer he. i spoke to one of them act two hours ago. he told me it's over. the data that was streaming in was very clear to them in their

projections he would win states like ohio, knock off the final battlegrounds. we can -- we are waiting for polls to close, waiting for more information to come in but they have known for at least a couple hours inside the obama war room it was going this way. the president has new left his residence, private residence. he has gone to the hotel across town. he is meeting with staff. celebrating in private. he is thanking his staff, watching the returns along with the rist of the nation and the world and then at some point we expect him to make his way here, a massive convention center near soldier field in chicago where the president just behind me is going to declare victory very shortly. >> thank you very much. we will be there for victory and concession speeches. a number of ballot initiatives,

marijuana legalization in some states and for medical use in others, gay amendment asks we will get to it all. ed has been at that game for a long time. >> they -- the obama team ran an extraordinary campaign back to back to the one four years ago. they had a game plan. they executed it. i think romney rose and did a very effective job as a candidate. very tough primary. they just had a better plan and executed it and my congratulations to them. >> we have learned that the shift has remained the statement republicans had been polling in another way. they are down with hispanics. what shifts do they need to make? >> we can't just be a southern white male party. civil that what you are? >> that's what our strength is. 28 years ago when i ran ronald

regan's campaign we started the west coast, we had california, we had union, catholic, whatever. today we have a majority of white men, we have married women, we have to go basically reach out to latinos and make serious inroads in the next decade. >> the moderates of the republican party are hard to find these days on capitol hill. romney is one who sippinged that maybeself deportation was a good idea. there wouldn't be enough jobs for hispanics who were here illegally and maybe they wouldself deport. these aren't helpful with the hispanic community. >> the we had to go so far to the right. >> why? >> the cast of characters, ohio, new hampshire there is a -- what the people said and demand and i think we need to relook at where we are as a party. i'm an old man but the young people in the party are playing smart need to basically figure out it's not just money, better

commeridate. have you to go out and understand where the population is and appeal to them. there is another generation that is coming along. >> rather than moderating what is happening at least in this cycle is -- the party is moving to the right. >> the party is moving to the right and -- speaker and republicans in the house are still fighting on the issues that matter to them but that doesn't mean you can't find other issues and if you want to have a -- give the majority party a better chance. game of addition and -- i think we need to practice every day and figure out how to get more voters. >> god, guns and gays? time to let that go? >> it's still a significant part of your base but you have to think beyond that. >> can you do both? when you say -- some of those social issues ones that -- the overall numbers in the country are not matching with the republican model at the moment. >> obviously the latino voter

is the fastest growing segment of the population. you can't just generalize. they aren't just cuban or mission can. they have a story to tell and as long as we are seen as the anti immigrant party, we will have a hard time reaching them. the state like texas, ten years -- population will be a majority there. florida it's already changed the dynamic. i would argue you can't have four or five states not have grab on them and be a candidate. getting to 270 for the romney team was really drawing from inside [inaudible], i'm losing my voice. they did a very effective job but they never got off the gun and i -- i give the obama people credit. they ran a great campaign. the president got a win and deserves to move forward.

>> now that the situation is a serious one and we will get to all that after the celebration. we will be there for the president's speech and for the governor's congratulations speech if you will but very quickly. this country has a lot of work to do. we have a fiscal cliff that's looming, we have a debt and deficit that's not sustainable. we have the economy that is in trouble. which have a population divide that in my lifetime at least the likes of which we have never seen. before this election tonight there were people on the left who absolutely believed that romney was going to destroy the country. there were people on the rights who were 100% convinced that obama is going to destroy the country. marry in, this happened because playing to the extremes is the way to unite and motivate the base. it's not the way to make this country one that can continue to exist in the way that is does now.

>> we have to get away from picking fights to fixing problems. that's why i think the moment between the president and chris christy is so important. >> which absolutely infuriated much of the republican base. >> but delighted most of american because they saw a president of the united states working with someone who was his biggest critic, became his best friend because they were both facing a huge problem that needed to be fibsed. people's lives were in balance. >> working together. >> together to fix problems. >> it's republicans who said that the president won't work with us. we have to remember on the day after the last election, when republicans said our number one job is to prevent him from being reelected. >> the republicans want to win and they want to -- they want to be a majority party again and they know they have to make

changes. that's right. there is a lot of stress about the civil war that's going to bust out now in the party -- its been leaderless for a long time. those conservative who are rubbed raw are -- they are going to be -- they are going to double down on the fact that the party nominate what they will say is a moderate candidate. >> [inaudible]. >> a friday flopper and they will argue as the establishment argues for broadening the base, making the tent a place that brings in latinos, unmarried women, different parts of the population it's going to be a very tough night but i will tell you republicans on capitol hill want to win again. >> live look in chicago and now as we transition to a live look in boston. a different environment with no music playing. republicans have lost this election tonight. listen in. >> even if they have made it

on the basis of [inaudible]. >> [applause]. >> the process. well folks, so maybe not so fast. >> you are listening to the playing of the fox news channel and -- they are all watching as republicans try to find how do we go forward from here? it's a night for the democrats. >> we will bring them in here. >> this is the fox news election alert. it's 11:30 on the east coast. it's 8:30 on the west coast and the president of the united states has been reelected. obama wins a second term and his -- speech will becoming in the minutes ahead and romney will be -- saying congratulations to him i'm quite sure as the nation tries to figure out a way to cull together after one of the most polarizing, expensive, brutal and at times disgusting campaigns anybody has seen.

that last part was bi-partisan in every way. dragged through the mud is the understatement of the year. the names that they have called each other, the lies they have told about each other, the ads they have paid for to tear down the other side, beginning all the way back in the primaries, its been brutal. if the goal was to divide the population they succeeded. right now in living room across america one side is absolutely livid and worried that the nation is about to collapse and the other side is thankful that the republicans didn't get in there and destroy what progress had been made. it depends on your point of view but people are divided i don't need to tell you that. you know it. now the president has be reelected. now the republicans have control of the house. now the democrats have control of the senate. and now for the first time in

two years, work has to be done because the nation is in trouble. debts have to be paid, hard sacrifices have to be made and decisions have to be taken on where we cut, and who has to be given the information that they don't want to hear. that is you can't have everything you thought you were going to have because we can't afford it. we can't go over the fiscal cliff because the nation will fall into ruin and people in washington have to work together. they have an 11% approval rating in congress and what is your bet on what will happen in the next session, probably up to all of us, it's our country after all. they work for us. maybe it's time to demand they work together. marianne is back with us, as is ed, and -- it's easy to say these things but obama won and what will apparently be a college landslide doesn't make

a conservative in a living room in a conservative state think anything but that doom is on us. >> we had another election, a storm that -- [inaudible], we still went on and had the election. we move on, and we basically -- i -- when i ran a campaign 28 years ago and the democrats said the president didn't have a mandate -- i basically said the president won the office again, we fled to work with him and make it work. i for one am not going to sit here and second guess the romney campaign. they ran a strong campaign, romney was a strong candidate. they busted their tail and it's easy to second guess but i think -- i think the obama team basically knew what they had to do. they went out and did it and reelected a president who wasn't popular, he could have been beat but he wasn't. he has four more years and

hopefully we can all pray and help him move the country forward. >> if you have a chance to look at it obama has a chance to have a second term like clinton did. that's what 23 million job was created, when the economy took off, when a deficit became a surplus. that's a reach but if that's the approach he takes and people work with him in good faith that's where we can go and that's where the country wants to be and we need to be. >> i hope that the president comes to this in great humility because the fiscal cliff is an emergency and the biggest crisis i have ever seen in my career. i think terrifying i think he is as complicit as romney in avoiding the topic. it's never a part of the debate but for some criticism the governor had of the defense cuts and sequestration.

it was just a deliberate ignoring of this crisis that we are wake up to tomorrow morning and i hope the president comes to his job to bring the country together and work with republicans in humility. >> we will wait and see what the two will bring to the table tonight. romney no doubt will come to the microphone and give the marching orders to the faithful and obama will come forward and talk to us about the next four years. we will be live with that coming up.

. in is live outside the white house where the party is on in the district of columbia as the president has been reelected for a second term. [applause], [cheering].

. the president and for the congratulations speech from the governor. we are at romney headquarters in boston and we understand there is -- from there is some question about the killing of the race. >> well, the romney campaign and carl rove, particularly has suggested that with about take '2% of the ohio vote still out perhaps the network calls have come to soon. the argument is made that much of the vote that's outstanding is from the northeast part of

ohio which is mainly a democratic area and it wouldn't be enough republican votes to turn the vote but the campaign argues that it's just to much of a rush with that many votes outstanding for them to do that and there are still some rural areas of republicans. they aren't wardly protesting suggesting they are going to draw a line in the sand but as we look in the room and begins to fill with more and more romney supporters here, the pool which is the tight group of reporters that spends 24 hours a day -- 18 hours a day has appeared in some pieces which may be a signal he is coming down. we have no indication of that. there has been no alert from romney senior adds that a phone call has been made to the president. we are in a holding pattern here and over the years there have been call that have been made and retracted in politics. while this doesn't quite look

like that, the romney campaign is saying every single bit of consideration for the voters be allowed as the hours tick in to the morning. >> all right. i suppose there has to be a concession call and speech before there is a victory speech. that's normally how you do it. that hasn't happened and we haven't been given the alert that it's in the works so it may be that romney and his family who had planned a sort of family picture to release tonight has been delayed is still watching, waiting, obviously anxious as the window gets closer to closed on him and if the ohio call stands, then of course become has won 270 plus and is going to stay in the house. >> carl cameron at romney headquarters and will be back there when the concession

speech is made. joining us now; you surprised? >> its been -- its been quite an evening. i mean i wouldn't be honest with you if i didn't say that -- that -- i feel subdued. i think many of us do. it has been -- its been quite something but i found myself rather moved by the picture you just had in the sound of the crowd in front of the white house. democracy isn't a spectator sport. you are supposed to be part of it and care. so, it would be ungracious to say anything but god bless them. >> you were famously and on the record detractor from the governor and the campaign tactics in the early going, before the first debate it sounded like you wrote him off. >> i hadn't but i thought that

his campaign was a problem. i felt in some ways it wasn't thinking right strategicly. i felt that they just didn't sound and look right and i didn't think it had the right kind of bigness. i was critical of the president's campaign too. >> what did the romney campaign need that it didn't have? >> i -- i have a feeling this is not the moment for that and i actually don't think criticisms of the campaign at this point will be helpful. i think seven weeks ago maybe they were. . >> it can be said of any campaign that did not succeed that probably something was wrong with it. i think it could be said of the president's campaign however -- that he had a great deal to be

proud of if you are thinking purely about victory but when it came to a certain neglect activity and a certainly grimness of tone. >> i heard you talk about a grimness of tone earlier today on the part of the president's campaign. i wonner doctor if you think there is a tone that may change that may let the business of the people be done over the next few years instead of the gridlock we have had. >> that is the great question. you know -- there is a number of ways to look at tonight and one way is my goodness we just spent two billion dollars and preoccupied for 12 to 18 months, its media and political process is and what we got was pretty much a similarra congressional thing. two billion dollars and 18 months and stasis but we can't afford that. we have a dramatic few moss

coming up. i'm not sure what will move that forward but i thought ab said something smart to you just a few minutes ago. i think it was him. when she said maybe a new spirit of humility may help. >> indied it may. peggy noonan. i have just been given this. romney said earlier today he did not write a concession speech between flights, he worked on a speech -- he said he hadn't written one though he acknowledged the resuddenlies may not be in his favor nothing is certain in politics. a speech is to come, a victory speech and maybe a look in to the next four years. stay with us.

. 12 minutes before the hour and looking at the numbers as they are now. this is the college vote as it stands. we are still waiting for the numbers from the state of

florida but some numbers out of miami-dade. they could still go either way as could the state of virginia and you see the states on the west coast that's not been called. a long night to go until we get to that. this is the president's election headquarters, we are waiting for him to come and speak but before he does, we are waiting for a concession speech from the romney campaign where we are told that romney didn't write one and he isn't happy that the calls were made before all of the rural counties had been tallied. i suppose it was his belief that maybe he could still win this thing bathos in the decision tech that the networks across america believe it's not possible and with more states to go, probably time to get that speech written. with us know the former special council to president clinton, the editor of the magazine national review who is a fox news contributor. what's your take a what?

>> it's that -- the president followed a strategy, had a ground game and now it's time to do what bill clinton did in his second term which is to pivot, go to the center, reach out to republicans, do the grand bargin and run for history rather than for re- election. >> a lot in the democrat base will say he already moved, he already didn't do some of the things his lib era l base wanted he tried to work with the republican congress which said from day one we won't work with you. >> i think that he actually didn't stand up to his base the way the base needed, the way -- romney was not willing to stand up to his base and a reason why he lost is he spent to much time trying to placate people out of the center right where he belonged. he showed that in his first debate. i think obama ran as a -- new

kind of politician, he gonerredda -- he was a partisan president. he balanced the -- i think that obama is going to go clinton and joining together with him, signaled that he is a man of the center left and can govern from the center and reach out to people like lindsey graham, many who want to solve problems and not win. >> it's not the campaign he rehabilitate ran. he ran a campaign based on destroying romney, and making him radio active in places like ohio and a very technical campaign based on a ground game that could repeat the turn out he got in 2008 that a lot of us thought was impossible. he did it but there was no augend a -- agenda.

there is been no sign of a pivot. i forecast a bitter standoff over taxes and the rest of this almost immediately. >> if we do between the republicans and the democrats again, don't you think it's possible that the people are going to rise up and go you better stop it and do our work because we have serious problems, you worried about getting reelected and your legacy is your problem. you work for us. we have problems and you have not tried to solve them. you stayed with old petty arguments that are tired and dated and stale and from another century and they don't belong mer here. >> house republicans passed a budget that was far excite brave on medicare and had an idea that came from democrats, it was slammed and up and down. they passed a budget that actually would take care of a

fiscal problems over the long term without raising tax rates, romney ran on it and actually fought the democrats to a draw on medicare. the president on the other hand has an 80 billion-dollar -- you are going to cut me off. >> i'm not. we will be right back.

we didn't have these fancy wireless receivers. blah, blah, blah. if i had a sleepover, i couldn't just move the tv into the playroom. no, we had to watch movies in the den because that's where the tv outlet was. and if dad was snoring on the couch, we muscled through it. is she for real? your generation has it made. [ male announcer ] the wireless receiver. only from at&t u-verse. get a free wireless receiver with a qualifying u-verse plan. rethink possible.

welcome back to our election night coverage everyone i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. throughout the state, democrats are cheering. and we have deborah villalon live. >> we have students here rallying, and i want to give

you the reaction when president obama was reelected. students just screaming and hugging. we saw tears and disbelief from many of them. they saw that the numbers were close for a while. and so there was definitely an element of shock by many of the faces here. and many students said that this was the first time they had ever voted for a president of course. and so they felt like this was a really special moment and a special night for them. having a hand in a national outcome. and such a prominent race. now they are also watching here for results on proposition 30, which would eliminate some of the education cuts by taxing some of the californians wealthiest taxpayers. and so that is another opportunity here for students to stick around and watch more election results tonight. we're live in berkeley, debora villalon. it was just as enthusiastic

in the san francisco's viewing party as president obama's win was called by several television networks. hugs, some tears and a lot of cheering from obama supporters. the associated press called the race shortly after the television networks did. obviously it is a much different story with the gop. members of the bay area's republican party are gathered tonight in walnut creek and john sasaki is live with the gop party where the mood has turned some what sour after that announcement. >> reporter: there's a lot of red, white and blue. a lot of festive decorations here, flags and everything. but as you can see this place has calmed down quite a bit because this is a party they did not expect tonight.

a lot of people cleared out in the past hour or so after it was announced that the president had won reelection. a lot of people here very disappointed. they're still very optimistic about making change but they're some what drowning their sorrows. a few people here started ordering more drinks. and as i heard someone leaving say, i'm going to go to my car and cry. let's take a quick look now at some of the closely watched measures to see where they stand right now. proposition 30 would boost income taxes. it is backed by governor brown. right now the yes is leading 48% to 52% for the no here on proposition 30. the competing tax plan, prop 38 would raise income taxes for all taxpayers on a sliding scale. with revenues going to public schools right now.

right now yes has only 25% and no 75%. >> we'll be airing an expanded 10:00 news tonight. you can look for the latest election results any time on our website ktvu.com. right now we send you back to fox election coverage. president obama wins reelection.

i've been talking, including tonight they were still convinced they were going to win this thing. >> why? because they were convinced that the models. >> their model is a different model. obviously i assume they thought. >> their nation is a different

nation. they're convinced that african americans are going to vote in smaller numbers, that women are going to vote in smaller number? what would convince them of this thing, this is america. >> i think they were looking at a formula to get through. they didn't get through it. once again i think there's also the ability to underestimate your opposition. and these guys ran the most brilliant campaign we've ever seen four years ago. i would have basically sat every single day learning what they did. and every thing they did i would have tried to duplicate and exceed and they didn't do that. >> as close as this race is and frankly mitt romney is still winning the popular vote. as close as the numbers are together the sentiments are as far apart. you can put the conservative and a liberal in the room

together and each thinks that the other is destroying the nation. it has not been like this before, has it. >> no and it seems to me that when this started was with the recount in 2000. >> right. >> and things seem to have gotten each presidential cycle worse and worse. and hopefully if i would like to see governor romney. and i think that's what people are really looking for. so i think just as conventional wisdom had to be thrown out of the window. and how you look at politics and how you win presidential campaigns again. we need to start putting aside all of our differences and really get down to fixing this country. >> this is a fox news election alert. fox news has just confirmed and has decided that in the state of colorado, colorado goes to

president barack obama. we've just called this. this was another of the battleground states to date or to this moment at least. mitt romney has won one, barack obama has won seven of the battleground states. let's look at the electoral vote total. the electoral total is know barack obama 290, mitt romney 203. we're waiting for a concession speech.

12 minutes past the hour now on the fox broadcast network. again colorado is the latest of the battleground states which the fox news decision desk has just come forward with 73% of the vote in in the rocky mountain state and barack obama will get the delegates from colorado. only two battleground states yet to be called and those are the states of virginia and florida. so let's get to our kor --

correspondents in each of those states, we have steve. are they still in lines in florida. >> reporter: just a few minutes ago they were. you have this unusual situation where the race is called and people still in line, still in line in miami dade. probably several more hours as well. polls closed at 7:00 p.m. but the people in line at 7:00 were allowed to vote and it really became an endurance test for those people really hanging on. the battle itself in florida was expected to focus on this i4 corridor and that's exactly what it did. governor romney winning several counties along the i4 and president obama winning several including this of hillsboro county. a county that keeps its perfect record intact of going for every winning president.

>> we're going to go now to virginia. our mike emmanuel is in richmond. virginia who knew, mike. >> reporter: yeah, chep, they thought this would have been one of the early votes. here we are five hours later and we do not have a winner of the commonwealth of virginia. 13 electoral votes at stake. governor romney made two visits here on election eve. congressman ryan spend the afternoon of the election in the richmond area. recognizing if they lost virginia they may not have any possible opportunity to get to 270 electoral votes, crowds were huge. we heard reports of people waiting in line three or four hours to vote. and the bottom line was, virginia election officials said they were not going to call the race with people still in line. so they were going to give them a chance to cast their ballots, let the process go forward.

even hours after the polls that officially closed and then would ultimately call the race. but the bottom line, the polls were extremely close here. officials here recognized it would be close to the very end. record turn out was called for today, over 3 million voters expected to turn out. it's been a tough one to call. here we are the party may be over but we're still here. >> you know it makes sense, you've gone through all this process. virginians have endured all the robo calls, all the ads, and you get to the line and you can't vote. that sounds almost un-american. they haven't called the state yet, they haven't called the state. who the heck cares, the race has been decided. in the state of florida they created a ballot that i can't stretch that far, it's nine pages. it took from 20 minutes to an

hour to read the thing. they were lines in miami dade, tampa, orlando. florida isn't called yet either. so we've been looking at the exhibit polling to try to figure out what was we thought going on actually going on. the question was is it all about the economy? what have we learned? >> i think in the end shepherd it really is. when you go back and look at the themes that emerge from the polls. there was a very narrow gap in the end between mitt romney and president obama on the economy. basically an area where mitt romney was supposed to have this huge advantage all the way through. who do you trust to better handle the economy. they're neck and neck. who do you trust to handle the federal debt, they're neck in neck as well. a pivotal moment in this race when you look at system of the turning points, bill clinton standing on the stage and saying, no president not even me he said could have fixed this in four years and i think per happens in that moment he

released any anxious democrats out there. and sort of relieved them of any fears they might have had that it was okay to go ahead and support president obama again for four years. that nobody could have fixed it yet and that he should be given another four years. looks back at it that might have been the beginning of how president obama handle and turn around the economy in a second four years. >> i remember on that night, pundents said someone just spoke to the american people as adults. tried to give them an idea of how big the problem is. he's not your candidate you're not happy about it. but for the first time i think bret hume was one of the ones who said that. >> it's interesting, you look also the other thing that really emerges here is like -- likability. most of them decided before

september on their vote. a lot of them that was big in the cake. negative advertising about mitt romney. he felt he was inaccurately defined but it looks like it didn't matter. people decided they liked president obama more than they liked mitt romney. in the end that's who they decided they wanted to spend another four years with. >> you said likability, people say that's not a factor, but it's a huge factor. >> it's a huge factor. it's who you want to sit and have a beer with. and mitt romney said he's not going to have that beer. and anne romney trying to convince romney. he ran his mother's campaign for the senate. i mean this is a man who liked to see women in very strong roles in his life.

anne romney is absolutely his partner in politics and life. but that was never communicated effectively it turns out in terms of women as well. because they -- i think it falls into the larger issue of who's better for the middle class. and that you know spoke to women i think in larger numbers at least across the country. >> and whether they liked it or not. he was effectively painted as the rich guy he is. >> well, he was. and unfortunately in an environment where people are concerned about their own economic situation. i'm not saying he's the wrong candidate. he won this thing fair and square. he ran twice for the office and he still may end up with the popular vote. i'm not sure. but at the end of the day he has nothing to be ashamed of. it's tough to be an incumbent president. you have to step back and examine what we did wrong. and come out better with a better outreach program. the republican party wants to be a player in the future we have to lay out a ten year

plan. how do we get latino voters back. >> newt gingrich called him a massachusetts moderate and made the case why he was a massachusetts moderate. used the records from massachusetts and he once said he was going to be to the left of ted kennedy on issues of gay rights. he was once pro-choice and in a very big way. a lot of his positions have changed over time. and you wonder if republicans don't have to decide if they want the moderate that he is or someone over on the right. >> i worked for a president who 29 years ago won 49 states. and four years before he ran had been a democrat. i voted many times for fdr, he's now the hero of our party, ronald reagan. i think conversion is okay i think seeing problems and trying to solve problems is what this thing is all about. >> i just want to say, i don't want to be a downer here again.

but i really think it's stunning that president obama was able to not stunning that he could convince the population particularly in battleground states where unemployment was on the decrease and things were looking better but, and i think the auto bail out really rescued the president's reelection and the rest of all. but i have to say, he did not really run on an agenda for a second term. he didn't really give a full defense of his own record until the final days. he callously a pamphlet. he's going to strike a grand bargain with republicans and pass immigration reform in 2013. this was the kind of thing that i thought would send these last

minute voters running for the hills. and maybe it's right. maybe in the end this is a science. this is a numbers game and they are really brilliant in making sure they find people to bring into their coalition that believe in enough of what they're doing and on popular stimulus, and health care reform law and very high unemployment is still not enough to disqualify him. because i would think, i really thought in the last month that we were going to see those late deciders go with romney. >> i think what happened is there was so much negativetive to this campaign that everybody tuned out. and no one offered anything significant and it was a question of reelecting someone who was there versus someone who they weren't sure of. >> a lot of the e-mails i got said, i don't believe anything any of them are saying. because they all are saying things differently. they all talked over our heads with all of their fancy get out

the vote schemes and didn't give us any answers for any of the problems that we have in this nation. it's over now. maybe we'll get that. first we got to get a concession speech. would you look at the popular vote. we're 30,000 apart.

ireless receivers. blah, blah, blah. if i had a sleepover, i couldn't just move the tv into the playroom. no, we had to watch movies in the den

because that's where the tv outlet was. and if dad was snoring on the couch, we muscled through it. is she for real? your generation has it made. [ male announcer ] the wireless receiver. only from at&t u-verse. get a free wireless receiver with a qualifying u-verse plan. rethink possible. welcome back to our election night coverage. i'm julie haener. >> and i'm frank somerville. tonight the results for governor brown's initiative are coming in. at this point it is still very close. amber lee is in sacramento this evening where people have gathered to watch the result there. you can see how close it is. she joins us now. >> frank, prop 30 party is well under way. there's some speakers out there but no signs of governor jerry brown yet. the limited early results show

the no side leading, supporters and democratic leaders say they remain optimistic that voters will pass a tax increase to help schools. >> the bad side is always ahead early. i got confidence that prop 30 will pull out. because it's that important to the state. >> reporter: again jerry brown we're told will come out to speak as soon as more results come in. live in sacramento, amber lee, ktvu channel 2 news. and there's another tax measure being contested tonight, it's proposition 38. it would raise income taxes for all taxpayers but on a sliding scale again with all of the money raised going to public schools. right now it is losing big time. 75% to 25%. and proposition 37 would require the labels of food products containing genetically engineered ingredients. it would also ban companies from labeling engineered food

as natural. it is also losing 42% to 58%. and meanwhile, poll workers are rushing with delivering the ballots. jana katsuyama has the story. >> reporter: this is where all the ballots will end up tonight. you can see those red envelopes those are some of the computer ballots that have come in from poll sites closest here in martinez. if you come over this way i want to show you those black cases are the ballot scanners. over here is the big garage  door where the semi -- semi trucks will be coming and delivering all the material. that's where the vote by mail ballots are going to be coming in. this year 9.3 million californians requested a vote by mail ballot. and the big thing is that those could play a big factor in this race if any of them are close. we'll be staying here and bringing you another live

report as these trucks begin to roll in. reporting live from martinez, jana katsuyama, ktvu channel 2 news. >> and now to some of the key house races around the bay area. in san francisco's district 12 race long time congresswoman nancy pelosi is looking to keep her seat against challenger john dennis. it looks like she's going to do that. right now she's winning 82% to 18%. and now to the district 13 race in oakland. this is between incumbent barbara lee and maryland singleton. it looks like barbara lee is going to win reelection. she's up 84% to 16%. moving on now we want to go to san jose district 17 the congressional race showing you the latest numbers right here. democrat mike honda winning 73% to the 27% for his challenger. and on the peninsula in the

district 14 congressional race incumbent jackie speier with. and miller looking for a challenge from fuller, we have miller with 67%. >> we'll have complete national and state coverage and bring you live reports from around the bay area tonight on an extended 10:00 news. this is a fox news election alert. let's get strait to the obama headquarters where we're waiting for an acceptance speech. it's half past midnight in the east coast. half past what 9:00 i guess in the west coast. and we haven't had an acceptance speech because we haven't had yet a speech from boston. and we need a speech from boston which would be a concession speech from the romney campaign and as you can see, they're watching television in there. happens to be on cnn at the moment and waiting for their

candidate to come out but the candidate hasn't called the white house. or hasn't called the president yet to concede. let's check in with our popular vote now. this is the electoral college vote. president obama at 290, governor romney at 203. the race is over with a couple of states left to call. but would you look at this, this is the popular vote, 29,419,033 votes for mitt romney. 49,421,172 votes for barack obama. talk about a nation divided. let's check in now with ed henry live from the obama campaign in chicago. and carl cameron live from the governor romney campaign. most of our stations have been away with their local races and they've come back to us for national coverage. many of those local stations didn't hear is that as far as i know there's been no call of concession, no concession

speech. what is the hold up? >> reporter: well we expect to be told immediately after that phone call is made and have not been told. there's been a level of radio silence from romney's senior staffers and there's good reason for it. they told me today that mitt romney only wrote one speech. an acceptance speech. so, presumably mr. romney who they say wrote his own acceptance speech is now editing and he may well be getting help from staff. rewriting and scrambling out something by way of a concession speech. that could take a little bit of time. there are some sort of technical aspects of things. the pool, the tight group of reporters that have traveled with mr. romney when we the traveling press have not been able to get into certain closed events or smaller venues is waiting outside, they're parked on the street out front. they've been out there for 15 minutes. they were told they could be waiting there from 15 minutes to an hour. that may well be a signal that mr. romney is expected to make it to that podium behind me

within 45 minutes or so. it would traditionally come after the concession speech. the fact that this will run past midnight eastern time is not meant as a slight from the romney campaign it's more about giving ample times for the voters to get used to what's just happened on the republican time and give due diligence an opportunity for every last vote to be counted. it's a forgone conclusion at this point that mr. obama has been reelected but there's an awful lot of soul searching and reevaluation that has to be made after a defeat. this is the second time that they've gone south to the democrat barack obama. first john mccain and now mitt romney. there will be questions about what the republican platform should look like in the weeks and months ahead. there's an open presidential race four years from now, now. joe biden has set his political

career and final campaign has not yet happened. there are lots of democrats who have been sniffing around in iowa and new hampshire wondering where they should spend a considerable amount of time here. all of those republicans who weren't picked as running mates, rubio, bush, christie, paul ryan the running mate all of them now will be looking forward to an open seat four years from now. so the question about a concession speech and its timing is part of it but that's in the immediate aftermath of a defeat. it will happen, but it's probably going to be another 45 minutes or so. >> carl, it's my understanding that an hour and 15 minutes ago the romney camp called made it clear that they thought the networks called this thing too early and they were frankly contested it i know because i read it happened over on the

fox newschannel. >> yeah, they disputed it. very early on they said wait a minute, hold on a second. ohio with only 45% of the vote in. it's just not fair to the incredible closeness that this race was. week after week, literally since may of this year. very rarely did the polls venture even outside the -- >> you're disputing it? >> not really. >> reporter: if they're not disputing it, why aren't they moving on? this isn't normal, this isn't what happened in years past. >> reporter: it's not but they're probably putting the finishing touches on a concession speech that's not only to be some sort of a bomb for the sting of defeat to republicans but a reiteration of the vision of romney for the country and given his demeanor throughout the campaign, it is likely that he will attempt to be gracious in defeat. and talk about the country's future. it's need to come together.

it's need in his view to tackle serious challenges facing the country and the world with an aggressive approach. he's been very critical of president obama. it's unlikely he'll be critical in defeat. we'll see shortly. >> that is actually what we were expecting. we were just talking about this grand experiment and what happens now is one side says we lost, the other side says we won and they all come together. we're waiting for that moment. we'll be here throughout the night. stay with us.

38 minutes past the hour and well, there's nothing left to decide now. there's some issues here and there in local and state races. we still don't know about florida, we still don't know about the state of virginia but we know who won. we're just waiting for a concession speech and an acceptance speech so we can all move together and move forward like none of this happened. joining us lannie davis and rich lawry also a fox

contributor. what do you want to hear from mitt romney. >> he is a very gracious man. i thought when i heard earlier that he hasn't written a concession speech, that was just bravado. but i guess he hasn't written a concession speech. >> they all say that because you don't want to give that look to the world. >> i think the whole thing was about the polls. everybody wants to project that confidence. if you're not projecting that confidence your people are not going to be there. >> it's also sort of emblematic of the plans, the health care, fiscal cliffs, the war in afghanistan on and on and on they were not top of mind. either side.

>> especially the war in afghanistan. neither of them wanted to talk about it at all. in his heart romney has a disagreement with the president but he didn't want to be explicit about it for fear of offending voters and especially female voters. >> until the last debate where he sided with the president. >> that's going to be a would have, should have. i'm not going to argue with him about anything. i'm not going to make any quick threatening moves i'm just going to try to play as soft as i can and i think that was an appeal to the women voters. >> i'm not going to send your kids off to war unless i absolutely have to. don't fear me i'm not a boogey man. >> there's a little bit of negativity here. forgetting that we have a 50/50 popular vote. >> look at, we can put the popular vote up there. at one point to put an ex

exclamation point on your point. a few hours ago the vote was separated by 22,000 votes. >> i'm hearing a lot from everybody's comments mistakes that romney made and the brilliant campaign that barack obama ran. and he did run a brilliant campaign. but he needs to say, this is a divided country. move the needed, 50/50. he's got to bring this country together. >> ed henry is at obama campaign headquarters: do we have a sense of what we're going to hear from the

president? >> reporter: a big challenge for him tonight because as you mentioned the closens of this race in terms of the popular vote and the fact that the house of representatives stayed virtually unchanged. we're back to a 50/50 government again. a big challenge for the president because there's a fiscal mess waiting for him and congress as soon as all of this and the vote counting is over with. but also a big opportunity for him when he finally takes the stage behind me to try to begin the healing process. try to bring the country together and say look, we've just fought it out. he's won, congress is basically staying unchanged, it's time to put the division aside, it's time to work together. republicans are going to have to show their willing to put some tax increases on the table. they haven't been willing to do that before. the president may have to show he's willing to cut into medicare and other social entitlement programs that he maybe hasn't been willing to cut willingness.

both parties are going to have to give some. important to me this race hasn't changed since day one. since mitt romney got the republican nomination. the obama camp has said again and again and again the math is the math. and the electoral math was not good for mitt romney. he had to run the table on these battlegrounds to win. the only big one he won was south carolina. he still has florida and others to go. from the beginning we knew we had to run the table, he did not and that's why he didn't win. >> lots to be talked about tonight. we'll go to the concession speech from mitt romney when that comes. we'll go to the president's acceptance speech if and when that comes. there's plenty of talk about what tomorrow will bring. tonight it's about that, it's 44 minutes past mid-night on the east coast. i'm shepherd smith in new york, this is fox continuous coverage as you have now decided 2012.

23 minutes before the hour now and now we know we've just been informed that in boston

massachusetts at the romney headquarters we can expect to see mitt romney step on stage at five minutes before 1:00 a.m. and at some point i'm guessing he will get a rousing ovation from the faithful who have supported him for oh so many months then we'll get a statement from him followed subsequently i would assume and presume from the president. and if history is our guide it will happen. some new results are in on several of the referendums initiatives in several states. we'll get to all these speeches fear not. but among the most notable marijuana. trace gallager is live, trace lots of different measures on this matter across the country. >> reporter: a lot of measures dealing with marijuana. there are 17 states that currently have medical marijuana laws in the books and tonight three other states were trying to vote to see if they could join that list.

the first one of course being massachusetts and massachusetts did pass their medical marijuana laws. as you see there pretty dominantly 63 to 37. arkansas went the other way, arkansas said no to medical marijuana. you can see the numbers there 48, 52, that one thought it was going to be a bigger defeat than that it wasn't. montana said yes to their medical marijuana law. you can see the numbers again 59 to 41% dominant there. three other states actually taking marijuana a step forward voting whether to legalize it for recreational use. and colorado becomes the first state to legalize marijuana just to get high. the voters have spoken and we have to respect their will. this will be a complicated process but we intend to follow through that said federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug. so don't break out the cheetos

or goldfish right away. oregon also voting on legalizing recreational pot they voted it down. but take a look at this, in washington state they had bipartisan support even two federal state prosecutors supporting this. and it looks right now as if washington state will become the second state to legalize marijuana. it means that if you're 21 years or older you could have an ounce of pot and the states would regulate the growers as well as the retailers and it could generate billions of the dollars in taxes. i just want to get a couple of amendments off the books. florida two very controversial amendments. the first one deals on whether or not to opt out of obama care. this would have allowed florida not to be mandated to buy health insurance. as you can see there they voted no. even if they voted yes it didn't really matter because the supreme court already ruled that obama care is constitutional. so the law would have no teeth. amendment six would have prohibited tax dollars to be

used to fund abortion currently florida does not use tax dollars to fund abortion. but the key here is it would have also excluded abortion from florida's privacy laws very strict privacy laws and the opponent said that was nothing more than an end game trying to get around making sure that minors do not get abortions without parental consent. but the big news colorado becomes the first state in the union to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. >> trace gallager in los angeles tonight. trace thanks very much. i don't know. e mean -- i mean we've been hearing about this forever. so many people have said you can tax it, regulate it. control it you can keep it away from the kids, but all of a sudden weed is legal if colorado for anybody who wants to use it for anything. that's weird isn't it. >> there's a big difference between people who support it for medical purposes versus legalization. i think it'll be interesting to see whether this goes to other

states and if so how many based on that. >> mitt romney is now gotten into the building there in boston and concession speech is forthcoming. let's look at the two campaign headquarters side by side. i've been informed that that's what the producers wanted to do. here we go live on the left hand side of the screen there that's obama headquarters. own on the right of the screen that's mitt romney's headquarters. governor romney did call president obama to concede a short while ago. we were waiting for confirmation of our own to make sure of that. we're told that governor romney has called. i'm not sure about the timing but i can tell you this 13 minutes ago cbs news called the state of virginia for obama. we haven't done that and we're not making that call. we can't -- but what i'm saying

is, is it that that put him over the top on the concession or was he really just writing the concession speech. i don't think in the long run time of history that's going to matter. because he's going to step to the polls and concede. martha is with us from fox news. we've been looking at the exiting polling and we've learned a lot. >> we have learned a lot. we also saw the flip in the national vote as well in the past few minutes and it's become a much more decisive matter in the poll. when you look at this across the poll. the economy is what it boils down to. and what happened it appears is that voters went to the polls and they said you know what we're going to give president obama another chance. the gulp that was supposed to exist because of mitt romney's businessman and turning around the olympics did not add up in

people's minds to the simple question of do i want to stick with this guy or give this guy a chance. when i came time to cross that bridge they decided they wanted to stay where they were. it's because we see the balance of power staying static, it's a big question as to whether or not the president will be able to achieve any of that agenda given you know what we see in the house of representatives in particular. >> we'll find out over time. one thing we're sure of is the nation is divided as ever. in television we play two different games. in television we play a ratings game that's about all the people watching at one time and that's the popular vote. then we play this game of people between the ages of 25 and 54 and those are the only ones that matter because that's who advertisers sell to. if you're younger than 25 you don't matter, if you're older than 54 you don't matter at all. and that's what you try to get. they were both trying to get

the states, the demographic, the individual electoral votes in between individual contests. the 50 states in puerto rico and it appears that's what happened and the romney campaign was not successful on that line. our jerry willis is saying i'm going, i'm going. jerry willis is inside romney headquarters, how is it? >> reporter: they're starting to sing god bless america. we're expecting mitt romney any second. the crowd is cheering. we've already seen security come out. here he comes. and good evening everyone i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. welcome to this expanded edition of the ktvu news. we want to take you straight to boston where mitt romney has just gone own the stage. our rita williams is there where mr. romney is expected to make his concession speech.

rita. >> reporter: julie, he has just taken to the podium. we have been waiting all evening to see if he would make a concession speech. let's hear what he has to say. >> but particularly the president, the first lady and their daughters, this is a time of great challenges for america. and i pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation. i want to thank paul ryan for all that he has done for our campaign. and for our country, paul is the best choice i've ever made besides anne. and i trust that his intellect and work and principle will continue to contribute to the good of our nation.

i also want to thank anne the love of my life. she would have been a wonderful first lady. she has been that and more to me and to our family. and to the many people that she has touched with her compassion and her care. i thank my sons for their tireless work on behalf of our campaign and their wives and children for picking up the slack as their dads have spent so many weeks away from home. i want to thank matt rhodes and the dedicated campaign team he led. they have made an extraordinary effort not just for me, but also for the country that we love. and to you here tonight, and to

the team across the country, the volunteers, the fundraisers, the donors, the surrogates, i don't believe that there's ever been an effort in our party that can compare with what you have done over these past years. thank you so very much. thanks for all the hours of work, for the calls, for the speeches and appearances, for the resources and for the prayers, you gave deeply from yourselves and performed magnificently and you inspired us and you humbled us. you've been the very best we could have imagined. the nation as you know is at a critical point at a time like this we can't risk partisan bickering and political postering. our people have to reach across the aisle to do the work. we look to our teachers and professors we count on you not just to teach. we look to our pastors and priests and rabbis and

counselors of all time to testify of the enduring principals upon which our society is built. honesty, charity, integrity and family. we look to our parents from the final analysis everything depends on the success of our homes. we look to job creators of all kinds. we're counting on you to invest, to hire, to step forward. we look at democrats and republicans and government of all levels to put the people before the politics. i believe in america, i believe in the people of america. and i ran for of